Pinterest today is increasing its investment in the creator community by introducing new tools that will allow creators to make money from their content. Now, creators will be able to tag products in their Idea Pins — a video-first feature the company first launched this spring — to make their content “shoppable.” They’ll also now […]
Instagram to default young teens to private accounts, restrict ads and unwanted adult contact
As it gears up to expand access to younger users, Instagram this morning announced a series of updates designed to make its app a safer place for online teens. The company says it will now default users to private accounts at sign-up if they’re under the age of 16 — or under 18 in certain […]
Oova raises $1.2M to develop a better at-home kit for detecting a woman’s best time to conceive
Oova officially launched its Oova Kit that includes an at-home test that quantitatively measures two hormones, informing a woman — and her doctor — of her fertile days and confirming ovulation.
Sequoia, Jay-Z, Will Smith back Landis’ $165M debt, equity round toward making homeownership accessible to everyone
Homeownership is one of the key components to building intergenerational wealth, and Landis is working to make that a reality for renters.
Tencent’s WeChat suspends new user registration in China to comply with ‘relevant laws and regulations’
Tencent’s WeChat said on Tuesday it is temporarily suspending registration of new users in China as it works to comply with “relevant laws and regulations,” the latest Chinese firm to face regulatory scrutiny in the world’s largest internet market. In a social media post, Tencent said it is “upgrading” its security technology to align with […]
India’s ShareChat valued at $2.88 billion in $145 million fundraise
Indian social media platform ShareChat said on Tuesday it has raised an additional $145 million and is now valued at nearly $3 billion, less than three months after it secured $502 million at a valuation of $2.1 billion. Temasek and Moore Strategic Ventures led the new tranche of investment while Mirae-Naver Asia Growth fund participated in […]
Citizen’s crime livestreams are no substitute for local journalism
In May, the neighborhood crime-watch app Citizen offered its user base $30,000 to track down a suspected arsonist on live video, only to discover that they’d sent a mob of civilians after the wrong guy. Now, Citizen is covertly hiring journalists to livestream on the app at crime scenes for $25 per hour through third-party […]
Spotify adds an attention-grabbing ‘What’s New’ feed to addict users to its app
Spotify is taking a cue from social networks like Facebook which deliver a constant stream of notifications under a “bell” icon in the mobile app, with the goal of keeping users engaged with the latest content. This morning, Spotify introduced what it’s calling the “What’s New” feed, which will deliver an ongoing series of updates […]
This Week in Apps: Clubhouse opens up, Twitter talks bitcoin, Snap sees record quarter
Welcome back to This Week in Apps, the weekly TechCrunch series that recaps the latest in mobile OS news, mobile applications and the overall app economy. The app industry continues to grow, with a record 218 billion downloads and $143 billion in global consumer spend in 2020. Consumers last year also spent 3.5 trillion minutes using apps on Android devices […]
Pro tips from the team behind Kickstarter’s most funded app
We’re sharing our approach and secrets to building a successful crowdfunding campaign because we know just how tough it can be to launch your own product.